This invention relates to gun sights for firearms and more particularly to a gun sight for acquiring and hitting moving targets, whether the moving targets are artificial, such as clay disks hurled by trapshooting machines, game birds, or assailants.
Sights for firearms typically comprise front and rear aiming pieces that are aligned and pointed at a target. Such sights can be found on many types of firearms including shotguns, rifles and handguns. These sights are usually formed of rugged metal parts and are frequently referred to as “iron sights”, in order to distinguish them from other complex weapon sights such as optical or computing sights. Firearms are manufactured with original equipment iron sights, but such sights may be replaced with one or more varieties of after-market iron sights. Iron sights also are classified in forms of notch (open sight) or aperture (closed sight). Such types of sights often require considerable experience and skill in the user who has to hold a proper eye position and simultaneously focus on the rear sight, the front sight, a target at different distances, and align all three planes of focus. However, such iron sights provide no information regarding distance to the target. Although advanced optical sights may provide range information, the cost of such sights is often prohibitive or useless for erratically moving targets.
It is the general practice in designing guns, particularly hand guns, to locate sighting devices on the gun barrel at both the front and the rear ends of the gun. The rear sight cooperates with the forward sight for aligning the line of fire of the gun for accurate marksmanship. It is generally desirable to provide means for adjusting the elevation and lateral positions of the rear sight and various sights have been designed for this purpose. Adjustments of this kind enable the marksman to adjust for accurate firing of the hand gun. Of course, accuracy can be improved with optical sights, laser targeting and other aids.
However, in many situations optical apparatus may interfere with the intended purpose of the user of the firearm. A conventional iron sight on a firearm provides for accurately pointing the gun in the exact direction of the target. However, with moving targets such as birds, etc., it is necessary for a marksman or hunter to develop a great deal of skill in sighting the target with the gun sight as it moves and to accurately shoot at the target as it moves. Acquiring and shooting a moving target may be part of such recreational activities as trap shooting or game bird hunting. However, moving targets could also be assailants. When a moving target is an assailant and the user is law enforcement officer or a private citizen who is defending an attack made by the assailant, it is important to for the user to rapidly and accurately acquire the target and fire when the target is in range of the user. When one considers the anxiety produced by an assailant, it is difficult even for experienced users to quickly judge distance and properly aim the handgun to target and disable the assailant.